Jobs and the Job Market: More H-1Bs

» Bill_Duffy - More H-1Bs

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Real wages today for Engineers are lower than they were in 1972. Bringing in more Foreign Engineers will keep it that way. That's great for the companies, but it's counter productive.

Why would any young person invest the $100K for an MSEE if the returns are so low and uncertain?

Seems like Engineering is a bit like the NBA; a short exciting career. But unlike the NBA, the players are not paid a lifetime of earnings in their short 15 year career.

This is now way to encourage careers in Science or Engineering.

Bush: Increase H-1B visas
KEEP AMERICA COMPETITIVE, HE URGES CONGRESS
By Jim Puzzanghera
Mercury News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - In a move welcomed by Silicon Valley tech companies, President Bush called Thursday for Congress to increase the number of visas available for high-skilled foreign workers as part of his new effort to boost U.S. competitiveness.

The White House did not specify how many more of the H-1B visas it wants, but said the current annual allotment of 65,000 -- plus 20,000 more for foreign workers with advanced degrees from U.S. universities -- was too low. Bush's call could energize attempts to increase the yearly cap on the controversial visas.

Valley companies covet them to fill jobs, claiming there are not enough qualified Americans. But some high-tech workers say the visas just allow companies to hire cheaper foreign employees beholden to the firms that sponsor them.

In a speech at 3M's corporate headquarters in Minnesota, Bush said more engineers, chemists and physicists are needed in the United States. He touted the six-year H-1B visas as a way to temporarily fill those jobs.

``I think it's a mistake not to encourage more really bright folks who can fill the jobs that are having trouble being filled here in America -- to limit their number,'' Bush said. ``And so I call upon Congress to be realistic and reasonable and raise that cap.''

At the height of the dot-com boom, Congress temporarily increased the number of H-1B visas to a high of 195,000 a year from 2001 to 2003. But as part of the deal to get the large increase through Congress in 2000, the annual cap reverted in 2004 to its pre-1998 level of 65,000. It's remained there ever since.

But with the high-tech economy improving, the H-1B visas again are in high demand.

The federal government received enough applications for the 2006 allotment that it stopped accepting them on Aug. 12, more than two months before the fiscal year began.

Congress tried to help in 2004, exempting as many as 20,000 additional H-1B visas annually from the cap for foreign workers with advanced degrees from U.S. universities. But U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers the program, announced on Jan. 17 that it had reached that cap as well.

Urged on by the high-tech industry, some in Congress tried to increase the annual H-1B allotment to 95,000 late last year. The Senate voted 85-14 in November to include the boost, along with an increase in fees, in a bill to cut the budget. But congressional negotiators dropped the provision in December amid concerns it could cost Republican votes on the budget-cutting bill in the House of Representatives.

High-tech lobbyists said they are working to resurrect an H-1B visa increase this year, possibly as part of broader immigration legislation moving through Congress.

``The economy, particularly in the tech sector, continues to ramp up, and they need access to the best and brightest in the world,'' said Jeff Lande, senior vice president of the Information Technology Association of America, a high-tech trade group. ``The fact that the president is behind us brings tremendous heft to that effort.''

Although H-1B visas are controversial, there may be enough bipartisan support for improving America's global competitiveness that an increase could pass Congress this year.

Bush's domestic policy adviser, Claude Allen, told reporters Thursday that the White House was open to working with Congress on the number of additional H-1B visas.

``Some reports have called for increases of 10,000, others between 20,000 and 40,000. So there are a number of options on the table to be considered,'' Allen said. ``But we'll work with Congress on that.''

-- posted by Bill_Duffy